


You Deserve a Second Chance

by BeautifulxLives



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drama, F/M, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Mother-Son Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:48:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16774462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulxLives/pseuds/BeautifulxLives
Summary: Regina is still trying to pretend she is some kind of an Evil Queen, but when she meets a thief named Robin Hood, her whole world is turned upside down.[Outlaw Queen; Missing Year fanfic, might continue in Storybrooke later on]





	1. You're Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Here is the first fanfiction I've ever published here, and it will be a fanfiction on the TV show Once Upon a Time, which belongs to ABC and Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis.  
> The rating might go up in later chapters (and I will warn before the chapter if it is the case), but for now, it is rated T.
> 
> P.S.: English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for any mistakes you may find here.

Regina was kneeling on the earth, in the Enchanted Forest. She gazed up at the sky, tears glistening in her eyes. How could she have done that? She had let her son go away from her. He could have been happy here, with her, and she was very aware of it, but she also knew better. He wasn't made for this world. In a sense, she was happy he got to be with his other mother, but… She felt as if her heart would be broken, forever.

She pressed her hand against her chest and took a deep breath. Control. She wished she had that right now. But she didn't. So she let her tears fall like little drops on the forest ground. No one was going to find her here anyways.

"M'lady?" a voice suddenly asked, making her jump on her feet.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked with disdain after regaining her composure.

She fought back her tears and looked at the stranger who had just spoken to her. It was a man, with brown hair and blue eyes. He had a bow in his hands, and she instantly adopted a defensive stance.

"Robin of Locksley, m'lady," he introduced himself, apparently not caring about her defensive attitude.

_Ah, the thief_ … she thought with contempt. He didn't look like he wanted to hurt her though, but she knew very well that that didn't mean he wasn't going to. She didn't let her guard down and stood with her head held high.

"And you are…?" he asked with a smirk.

She let her disdain show in her voice when she answered, "I am your queen, and you should –"

"The queen, really? The Evil Queen?"

His shoulders were now very tense, she noticed. She frowned a little and nodded briefly. His hand gripped his weapon tighter and he scowled.

"What are you doing in these woods?" he asked, not as kindly as he had before.

She laughed bitterly and looked at him dead in the eye, and she chose to answer him with some honesty. "I needed to be alone, and I think you just saw that when –"

"When I interrupted your crying? Yes, I saw that. Why were you crying?"

"It is none of your business, _thief_!"

He looked straight at her and when she expected anger to show in his eyes, it was something akin to pity that appeared in them.

"Were you traveling with the people on the main road?" he asked her again.

She was quite grateful that he had changed the subject, and so she told him the truth. She told him she was traveling with them because they had to reach her castle, and when she saw his frown, she stopped her talking and raised her eyebrows, silently asking him what had happened to it. He lowered his eyes and took a deep breath, before approaching her with small, delicate steps. She didn't walk away from him, but the way he approached her disturbed her greatly.

"The castle is already inhabited, your majesty," he explained.

"You're lying," she exclaimed. She was sure of that. She had cast a spell on the castle to prevent anyone from entering, and no one but her could break it.

She stared at the man and she quickly understood that he wasn't. All she could see in him was honesty… which was quite surprising, because he was supposed to be a thief.

"But… how could it be? No one was supposed to be able to break the spell…"

Everything was going down around her. Her world was crumbling to pieces and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

"I'm really sorry," he apologized, and she didn't even know why.

She nodded stiffly towards him, regaining her countenance, and then she turned on her heels and decided to head back towards the main road. She couldn't stay there to grieve, she wouldn't be at peace anymore, now that the thief knew she had come here to cry.

"Wait!" he almost shouted.

She stopped but didn't turn to look at him.

"I don't really think you can head back to the castle now… Do you?" he continued, and she could easily hear that he was smirking again.

She sniggered.

"Do you really think I will let that person, whoever it is, get away with invading _my_ castle?" Her tone was so cold when she said it, and became even colder when she went on, "No, I don't think so. Even if I have to rip their heart out, I will –"

"Your majesty," he cut her off, _again_. "What I wanted to say was…" He waited until she had calmed down and then went on, "I have a camp in the woods, and I think there is enough room for every single one of you."

"And why would you do this, _thief_?"

He huffed with exasperation and answered, "Because it's the right thing to do, m'lady." And his voice held such strength that, in a way, it appeased her.

"Alright," she finally agreed. "Lead on."

"To my camp?"

She looked at him straight in the eye and wondered if he truly meant this.

"No, to the nearest river," she said in a dead serious tone. When she saw him frowning, she shook her head and almost smiled, "Yes, to your camp."

He grinned and nodded. And just like that, he was gone. Regina swore quietly and had to focus on her footsteps, so that she didn't trip over her own feet. She had forgotten how hard it was to walk and run in that long, dark dress she used to love. And now she was following a thief in the woods, and he led her to a camp she didn't know anything about. Had she gone completely crazy?

When she finally stumbled out of the woods, she lifted her eyes up and had to contain a gasp. So this was the camp Robin had talked about…

Before her laid a vast clearing, with a few tents scattered in the middle of it. The grass here was green, when everywhere else she had seen some, it had been nothing but weeds. And it was open, so everyone could gaze up at the stars at night.

"Do you like it enough, your majesty?"

Robin's voice interrupted her trail of thoughts and when she looked at him, she truly smiled this time.

"This is more than wonderful," she declared warmly. "I think everyone will be happy here, while I track down the one that invaded the castle."

She hadn't said that it was _her_ castle, Robin noticed. And yet, he asked her, "Must you always be so serious, your majesty?"

Her smile vanished instantly, and when he saw her open her mouth, he didn't let her intervene and continued, "If you could just open your eyes, you'd see you could be happy with everyone here, and not in this castle you're always talking about!"

She averted her gaze and stared ahead of her, at the tents in the center of the clearing.

_I can't, I can't, I can't_ , she thought, over and over, until Robin's voice cut her thoughts off once again. He said, "I'm sorry, your majesty, it wasn't my place to –"

"It's fine. I'll just head back to the main road and lead them here… if it's still alright."

He nodded and offered to walk with her, but she shook her head and told him, "I need to be alone for now."

She left without another word, walking briskly among the trees. She didn't want to use her magic. She needed time and for once, this instant travel spell she used so much wasn't what she needed the most.

This time, not a single tear fell from her eyes and she wondered if she should be worried. It might not have been voluntary, but he had just turned her world upside down, even more than it already was. She didn't need his advice and still… The words he had said were opposed to every single thing she believed in – revenge, darkness and power. And then she realized that she didn't believe in those things anymore. As little as it was, it still comforted her.

* * *

She was still walking among the trees, lost in her thoughts, when a noise brusquely woke her up. She frowned and looked at the canopy, wondering what it was. Maybe it was just a bird… She swore if it was that thief again, she was going to curse him until the end of his days.

When she heard nothing more after a few minutes of silence, she shrugged and started walking again. Before she could even realize it, she found herself face down on the ground, with her ribs aching so much she couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

She forced herself to turn around, and she saw the horrible creature flying again towards her. She raised one hand, and a ball of fire appeared in her palm. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to throw it at the… flying monkey, or whatever it was, before it grabbed her by the collar of her dress and lifted her up in the air.

She gasped when the breath was knocked out of her, and she chose this moment to finally burn the creature. It let her go, and she fell onto the ground, bruising her ribs even more. She closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath, but the pain cut her breath away. And when she opened her eyes again, she saw the creature charging her one more time. Why couldn't it just let her be? she asked herself. She tried to fight it off more quickly this time, but failed, probably because of the pain which clouded her mind.

At the precise moment when she thought she could do nothing and the creature would kill her, she heard a _swoosh_ near her ear and the flying monkey backed away with an inhuman scream. She turned her head as best as she could to see who had saved her and scowled. Him again!

"I told you not to follow me, _thief_!" she seethed.

"You didn't let me finish what I had to say," he answered calmly. "I could have warned you about them, but you didn't listen to me, you just left. And now you're hurt," he stated with concern.

"I'm fine."

She tried to get up and hissed in pain. He raised an eyebrow and stared at her. She glared at him and informed him that it would heal pretty fast, because of her powers. _Or so I hope_ , she thought while she sat down in the mud.

Suddenly, a hand appeared in front of her eyes and she stared at it, and then at its owner.

"Why are you offering me your hand?" she asked, trying to hide her gratitude.

"Because you're hurt, and you need help if you want to be more comfortable to use your magic," he stated like it was obvious.

She briefly thought about it, and then let him help her up. She leaned onto him and he helped her walk towards a nearby, large tree. She sat down, and even though it wasn't the most comfortable place she had ever known, she was able to focus more and let her magic soothe her aching bones. When she opened her eyes again, she saw him looking at her with a frown and she rose to her feet.

"Thank you, but I'm better now. You can go back to your camp, and I'll –"

"No. After what happened, I'm not letting you go into the woods alone again. Besides, your people must be far ahead of us now. You'll probably need help catching up with them."

"I have magic, I can –"

"Your majesty. I am coming with you, and you can't convince me otherwise."

She looked at him and sighed, before leading the way among the trees. She wondered why he was helping her. When he had first learned she was the Evil Queen, he had acted so… aggressively, and now he was willing to help her alongside with all the others. She asked herself if she had done anything to convince him she had changed, and decided that she would ask him later.


	2. Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second chapter, I hope you'll enjoy your reading!
> 
> Disclaimer: Everything (setting, characters) belongs to Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, and to ABC. I don't make any money out of this story.

The queen was leading him, slowly but surely, towards the main road. Robin looked at her, and he saw her long, dark hair moving with every step she took.

He knew he should probably hate her after what she did to Marian, his beloved wife, but he couldn't help but being hypnotized by her. That was probably why he had offered to help them all in the first place.

"Why did you come back here?" he suddenly asked, when he couldn't take the silence anymore.

"I had to," she answered shortly. She apparently felt his eyes on her, because she sighed and continued, "There was a curse in our town. If we hadn't come here, we would have…"

She trailed off and lowered her eyes, and he knew why he had offered his help. She clearly wasn't the Evil Queen anymore. She seemed… almost sad when she talked about that curse, and actually willing to help others, so either she regretted casting that curse, either she didn't and she was just doing her best to make it all better.

"Were you the one to cast it?" He desperately wanted to know more, to know if she had really changed.

"No, of course not! I wouldn't have endangered my son with another curse!"

He literally stopped at how vehemently she had spoken, and he looked at her with admiration. So it was her son she was fighting for…

"He's not here with me," she clarified, and he knew that she had noticed he had stopped walking.

Robin looked into her eyes and saw a sadness so deep that he thought, for a brief moment, it would overcome him as well.

"Where is he then?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath and answered, "Safe," before walking away from him, her shoulders slumped. He frowned and wondered what was so terrible about it. Of course, he wasn't with her anymore, but what better life could she hope for him than a life where he was _safe_? He had no intention of asking her more about it, because he could feel her nerves were almost breaking by now. _Maybe later…_ he thought. For now, he kept on following her without uttering another word.

* * *

They walked and walked and walked, until finally, they stepped out of the forest onto the mud of the main road. It was raining now, and they hadn't even felt it because the rain was blocked by the thick canopy above them.

The queen stopped and turned once again towards him. She asked him, "Do you want to continue on foot, or should I take us there right now?"

"As you want, m'lady," he just said calmly.

A few seconds later, he was further up the main road, facing someone he recognized easily.

"Baelfire!" he exclaimed, and a smile appeared on his lips, and he was well aware that everyone was staring at them now.

"You know him?" he heard the queen ask. He didn't really know if the question was for him or for his friend.

"Yes, Regina, I know him," Baelfire mumbled, and took a step towards him. "So you've traveled safely back to the forest, Robin?" he asked with a huge smile on his lips.

"Yes, Roland and I are perfectly safe."

He saw a frown on Regina's face and remembered he hadn't told her about his son. But then again, why would he?

Another woman with white and brown traveling clothes and dark hair intervened, asking if he was _the_ Robin Hood. And he answered by telling her he was, a polite smile on his face. He didn't like how everyone gushed about him, because every single time someone heard his name, they either saw him as some kind of a dangerous outlaw, or as a _good_ person. And he wasn't either of them.

"And you were with Regina…" the woman smiled.

"What?" he let out before he could stop himself. He heard Regina exclaim at the same moment, "Excuse me?"

"Oh…" The woman seemed to realize she was in the wrong and obviously had to hold back a laugh when she continued, "It's just… Regina isn't really the… social type."

For a few moments, Robin thought the queen would literally burn her down, but she took a deep breath and chose to avoid everyone's gaze (especially his, he noticed). He couldn't help it, he smiled a little before dropping the subject.

" _Regina_ and I…" he began, stressing her name, which made her look at him with a frown. "We have an offer for you."

"No, _you_ have an offer for them," she immediately rectified.

"Well, yes, but you agreed. Obviously."

She held her head high and crossed her arms, and he didn't lower his eyes, defying her. When they both became aware everyone was staring at them, they dropped their silent argument and turned towards them again.

"As I said, we have an offer." He heard the queen huff, but she didn't stop him this time. "I have a camp in the woods, and –"

"A beautiful camp in a beautiful clearing," Regina intervened. "I'm sure you'll like it, Snow," she said, fixing her gaze on the other dark-haired woman.

So the woman who had asked if he was _the_ Robin Hood was in fact Snow White… and the Evil Queen (but she didn't seem so evil anymore) didn't look like she permanently wanted to kill her. In fact, she was now _smiling_ at the younger woman, and Snow wasn't nervous at all in her presence. Obviously, things had changed between them, but why and how? He didn't know… yet.

"Yes, my people have already told me how beautiful they think it is," he agreed. "Anyways, there's still enough place for every single one of you, and I don't think it will be a problem if you –"

"Why not go to the castle?" a man asked.

He was standing just behind Snow White and had his hand on the small of her back, so he concluded that this man was her husband, Prince Charming.

At Charming's question, Regina looked at him anxiously and he sighed, understanding very well why she didn't want to explain it all by herself. And so he told them, "We cannot go to the castle, because it has already been invaded during your… absence."

Short, but clear. That was the best he could do, and the queen would have to do the rest by herself.

"Invaded?" Snow exclaimed. "By who?"

"We don't know," Regina answered. "I cast a spell on it to prevent anyone from entering it, and no one should have been able to break it. And yet, it happened."

Everyone but the both of them looked at each other, they seemed to agree on something, and then some of the most important people gathered around Snow and Charming. The queen was left alone, and so was he. They looked at them and tried to understand what they were saying, but they couldn't, and so when Snow walked towards them with a serious face, he slightly tensed. Until a smile appeared on her lips and she said, "Of course we'll accept your offer! But are you sure your… people will accept us?"

"Of course they'll accept you. I'm not so sure about _you_ , though." And with that, he turned towards Regina, his eyes telling her he was sorry about that.

She nodded in understanding and answered, "I can understand why. I don't think I'll need to stay at your camp very long though. Soon I'll go and fight whoever it is that invaded the castle."

"You need a plan first," Snow countered.

The queen looked down at Snow, and sneered, "I already have a plan."

"You do?" Charming asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Of course I do. I have my magic, and –"

"Magic? Is that your solution to everything?" Robin couldn't help but ask.

She glared at him and didn't even answer. He huffed, and Snow looked at him apologetically. It wasn't her fault though if Regina was so irritable, so he offered her a little smile, and then glared at the queen while she wasn't looking.

He made sure everyone was really alright with the leaders' decision, and then gestured for them to follow him. He then saw a purple cloud of smoke from the corners of his eyes and raised his eyebrows, because Regina wasn't here anymore.

"Like I said, Regina is not much of the social type…" Snow apologized for her once they were walking in the woods. "She's probably already in the forest, she likes to be alone."

"Yes, I've noticed that," he grumbled.

"I hope she didn't go to your camp… She won't be welcomed warmly."

"I don't think she is that stupid," he reassured her.

Snow laughed a little and told him she liked him. He smiled in return, and then he heard another one of those terrible, terrible screams. Inhuman, screeching… He was growing paler by the second, because he knew what direction that scream came from. His camp… It wasn't necessarily his camp that was being attacked, but there was a strong chance.

"Roland!" he said anxiously.

"What was that?" Charming asked him at the same moment.

He didn't answer and started running in the right direction. He just heard everyone calling after him, and then their feet hitting the ground behind his. For a brief moment, he regretted he hadn't told them to be quiet, because this much noise could endanger them all.

* * *

When they arrived to the camp, no one had been hurt even though they had made more noise than a herd of elephants, and the first thing he saw was a person in a long, black dress. Regina… Then he noticed how everyone had gathered around her, but not necessarily in an aggressive way.

She turned towards him at the noise and he saw someone behind her. She had her hands on the little boy's shoulders.

"Roland!" he sighed with relief.

"Papa!" the little boy screamed, and he ran towards him.

Robin noticed his son's cheeks were stained with tears, and he kneeled on the ground to receive him in his open arms.

"What happened?" he asked his comrades.

"Well…" Little John stammered.

"What happened is that one of those stupid… flying monkeys attacked your precious little camp! I thought it was a… a haven, and it attacked it!" Regina thundered. "And your… son was there, in the middle of the clearing, and –"

"And so she saved him," his best friend interrupted, pointing to the queen with his chin.

"Yes Papa!" Roland told him. "She saved me!"

"Well… I guess I have to thank you then."

He nodded towards Regina, who took a deep breath and replied with a nod of her own.

"Did that beast hurt you, Roland?" he asked seriously to his little son.

"No Papa. Look!"

Roland took his hand and led him towards Regina, who smiled and held up a… Was that a _teddy bear_? He couldn't suppress his laugh, and sniggered, "You turned it into… that?"

"Well yes. I couldn't let it hurt your little boy."

She looked at Roland and smiled warmly, and that's when he remembered her own son. She probably wanted to make it up for leaving him behind… wherever "behind" was.

"Thank you again," he said to her.

She looked at him, and he thought she saw something in his eyes that made her soften, because she handed the stuffed toy to his son and then put a light hand on his elbow, telling him, "You'll take care of your son, right? You won't let anything bad happen to him?"

He nodded almost frantically, because she had to know he wouldn't let _anything_ happen to him. She smiled once more and then she was heading off towards the others, who were still waiting on the borders of the meadow. They probably wanted to give them some privacy… and some time to accommodate to all those intruders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that the characters in this chapter were still In Character, even if I feel like they weren't… And I hope you enjoyed the chapter, of course!
> 
> P.S.: Sorry for the little delay in publishing this second chapter here.


End file.
